As Owner and Head of the Church, Christ chooses whom He will send in His name and authority. He establishes leadership positions and He determines who will fill them. The Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians gives a pattern.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.¹¹
Isaiah 9:6 says about the Messiah, “The government will be on his shoulders.” This will be fulfilled in Christ’s coming Kingdom, but it should be true now in His Church. He determines how the government functions, how authority is distributed.
Ephesians 4:7-13 is the distribution list. It is not just about ministry gifts and responsibilities, though these are very responsible positions and the officers are gifts to the church. It also has to do with authority. God never gives responsibility without the authority to fulfill it.
For example, He told Adam and Eve in the beginning to populate the earth. With the command, He gave them the ability to procreate and authority over His creation. He never sends you to do something without empowering you to do it.
God releases different authority to each ministry office in order to fulfill specific responsibilities in the Church. Office holders walk in submission to Him but also work in His authority. They are to put all the people into ministry so the body of Christ will be built, unity will grow, and believers will mature to be more and more like Jesus. Under this flow, every one of us will have the appropriate authority—pastors to lead, deacons to support and assist, and believers to minister.
Paul’s list in Ephesians begins with “apostles.” The word in the Greek text means “sent one.” Many believe the office of apostle was limited to the 12 identified in the Gospels and Acts and to Paul who saw the Lord Jesus and received their teaching directly from Him.¹² Certainly, these Apostles, eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ and Holy Spirit inspired authors of the New Testament, have no successors in any age. However, they also provided oversight and accountability for ministers and churches which God has ordained for every generation. Others in Acts also are identified as individuals sent from God, apostles, to lead and serve his church.
Some believe the term “apostle” best applies today to missionaries because they are sent to where Christ is not known. God calls missionaries and the churches send them. They are supported by and accountable to the churches. God does give them authority and He backs their ministry with supernatural power to bring down strongholds of darkness. Still, they do not fill a role of oversight for ministers and churches except, sometimes, in their specific fields of labor.
The Church that Works is not concerned with the office of an apostle but with oversight and accountability for churches and ministers. Our purpose is to explore the flow of divine authority which releases and empowers individual believers to work for God. We cannot detail here the exciting aspects of the term “apostolic” which relate to supernatural expressions of God’s power to confirm and advance the message of Jesus Christ. However, getting the church right in authority sets the stage for God to do wonderful things.
In the New Testament church, and in Paul’s list, “apostle” implies “sent with authority”—sent from somebody, as much as to somebody. It means “sent from God,” not just sent to the lost. Our English word is a transliteration of the Greek apostolos, derived from apostellein, which is “to send.” Apostellein emphasizes commission, authority from, and responsibility to the sender. So, an apostle is one sent on a mission in which he acts with full authority on behalf of the sender and is accountable to him.¹³
When someone designates another person to act in his behalf, to speak in his name, he gives him or her an affidavit or some official authorization. He gives his representative authority. Then, though he may not physically be present, his agent can make sure his wishes are implemented. Since the emissary acts with his authority and speaks in his stead, the sender will back him with all of his resources.
This describes the apostle for the purpose of this book. He is sent from God, and for God, to accomplish things God wants done. He serves and leads in the authority the Lord has distributed to him. Specifically, he gives oversight and a channel of accountability for pastors and churches.
In addition to the original 12, with Matthias replacing Judas the Traitor, and Paul as Apostle to the Gentiles, the New Testament recognizes other individuals as apostles. Galatians 1:19 refers to James, the Lord’s brother and head of the Jerusalem church, as an apostle. First Corinthians 15:7 includes him and, possibly, others besides The Twelve as apostles.
Paul’s sponsor into the Jerusalem fellowship, and later his coworker, Barnabus also is identified as an apostle in Acts 14:4 and again in verse 14. Paul’s relatives Adronicus and Junias are noted among the apostles in Romans 16:7. Paul’s associates Silvanus and Timothy and their rights to assert apostolic authority are cited in 1 Thessalonians 2:6. The New Testament writers recognized specific anointing, gifting, and authority in all these individuals as sent from God to the churches.
The Apostles, moved by the Holy Spirit, gave us the New Testament without spelling out the oversight details of the office as it relates to governing the churches. They appear to have weighed in to resolve doctrinal issues, as in Acts 15, and to confirm policies and procedures for the churches. After cataloguing external hardships and sacrifices for ministry, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:28, Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
Every pastor and congregation needs to function under some form of apostolic covering. This means someone outside the local church who is anointed and sent with authority from God to hold them accountable in ministry content and personal and congregational conduct.
This apostolic function for spiritual authority may take different forms. It may come by relationship, a spiritual father-child bond with an obviously anointed veteran pastor. Paul encouraged, admonished, and instructed Timothy and Titus each as a “true son” in the faith.¹⁴ They were saved or spiritually nurtured under his ministry, and his letters to them reflect the tender but clear authority of a good dad.
Accountability and guidance also may come through other pastors, not necessarily immediate fathers in the faith, who demonstrate an apostolic anointing for leadership beyond the local church. The Holy Spirit can draw pastors and congregations into this kind of relationship.
The weakness of relational submission is that sin, stubbornness, or simple pride, may disrupt the link. In addition, even the best counsel becomes suspect if it is not tempered with multiple wise perspectives.
Denominations and various associations of churches provide for oversight in their constitutions, bylaws, credentialing processes, and organizational structures. Their executive officers, governing boards, or oversight committees can fulfill an apostolic accountability function.
An exciting spiritual dynamic is revealed as God moves into specific leadership positions those individuals whom He has called, anointed, and gifted. Many times it is obvious long before they officially take office—much like David in the Old Testament who carried a royal anointing for years before God sat him on the throne of Israel.
The churches are blessed dramatically when a person anointed for leadership is installed in the position. It can be disappointing, even detrimental, when individuals, even good men, without that anointing and gifting are posted in authority. When we vote, we should take care that spiritual prerequisites guide our ballots and not personalities or personal preferences.
Non-denominational congregations may covenant with other churches or ministers for a submission to biblical authority. New Life Church of Colorado Springs, Colorado is an example.¹⁵ The church survived crisis and a fallen pastor began restoration because they had such an apostolic agreement in place.
Founder and Pastor Ted Haggard led the congregation 22 years from 14 people meeting in his garage to more than 14,000 members with multi-million dollar facilities and worldwide ministries. His confession of immorality and resignation from the pastorate in 2006 devastated the church and shocked the Evangelical world. However, the bylaws provision for external authority gave the church and the pastor a door to recovery. At the time of the controversy, a group of four pastors from outside the church, the Overseers, had authority to investigate allegations of misconduct by the senior pastor.
The agreement empowered them to discipline or remove the pastor. Since Haggard confessed his sins and resigned all positions, they were not required to intervene. However, he asked to continue in an accountability relationship with them.¹⁶ In the case of New Life Church, the Overseers also must confirm selection of a new pastor.
Whether through an organizational affiliation or otherwise, every pastor and church must find a covering. Without it, no one can walk in the full flow of God’s authority for any ministry. Even the Apostles submitted to authority. Peter took six men with him, twice the required number of witnesses, when he obeyed the Holy Spirit and shared the good news of Jesus in the house of the Roman Cornelius. The account appears in Acts 10 and 11. He returned to report to the Apostles and fellow believers.
Acts 15 gives details of the first church council where the Apostles and elders addressed the issue of whether non-Jewish believers also are required to keep the Law of Moses for salvation. Peter’s experience and the missionary reports from Barnabus and Paul, backed by the written Word, carried the day. Gentiles and Jews, as well, are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
This chapter in Acts demonstrates churches cooperating in council and submitting to the counsel of external leadership. Churches and pastors in cooperation with and submission to others will avoid much pain and confusion. Truly independent churches and pastors may have nowhere to go if they fall apart. Their people end up running to stable churches or, tragically, dropping out altogether.